Health update
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Well, i've managed to survive another year to write yet another solstice epistle. I never know if it will be my last. I suppose that's what makes me persevere at what has become undoubtedly a chore, albeit only once per year. Over the course of this year, my haemoglobin levels had fallen perilously low, requiring me to have two rounds of blood transfusion. That and an increase in immunoglobulin M levels had led the specialists to resume treatment for the type of lymphoma i'm dealing with, specifically Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. This time though it is not chemotherapy but what they call targeted therapy, using a specific drug to block the malignant B-lymphocytes. This drug zanubrutinib, under the brand name Brukinsa, is fairly new, approved for use in the EU only in 2021. It seems to be taking effect after having been on it 10 weeks as i have more energy and my critical numbers have improved. Thankfully, i've had no adverse side effects. Having avoided drugs of any kind for most of my life, my system seems to handle intrusive anti-carcinogens fairly well. In fact, most of the time i forget i'm supposed to have any form of the big, bad C. Brukinsa is frightfully expensive. The hospital pharmacy told me it costs 5000€ for a month's supply; an internet search quoted USD15,000. Without the public health service i would not be able to access this so i am particularly grateful for Portugal's socialized medicine. Had i remained in the US i would surely have perished for lack of means. The less said about the US health system the better. |
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It's a precious opportunity we have, to be alive as human beings. It has been said that the chance of having a human life is something like being picked up as one grain of sand out of all the grains on the beach. It's such a rare chance and yet somehow... some error arises... present in each one of us — not fully appreciating what we have just in being alive.
~ Charlotte Joko Beck ~
Documenting
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Just as well, as some folks seem to recognize that i may have something yet to say about LGBT history in Jamaica, having had a pivotal role in early activism. So before i pop off they seek to record my ruminations on film. I was interviewed by two separate independent filmmakers, both based in New York, both of Jamaican descent and both members of the LGBT community. Earlier this year came Safiya Chiniere with her partner, and a crew of cameraman and sound tech. Until she can raise a grant her efforts have been self-funded. Latest news is that she made her way to South Africa where she met and interviewed Donna Smith, GFM stalwart. She was followed this December by Stephen Winter and cameraman. For the Winter production i had been invited to New York to be interviewed. I declined as my reduced energy-level makes air travel and all it entails burdensome, plus i choose to avoid the stress of any shenanigans ICE may pull on entry to the USA. Better to be safe than sorry. I have no idea when the respective productions will be completed, or where the films will be shown, so don't ask me. In the Winter interview photo i look like i'm wearing a voluminous skirt but it is only an afghan to keep my lower body warm in this cold and damp flat, typical of older Portuguese construction. Note the damp, peeling wall in the back. This is a relatively low-income country by EU standards so there are not the funds to maintain buildings the way they should be. |
What you are, the world is. And without your transformation, there can be no transformation of the world... unless in the very essence of our being there is a revolution, a mutation, I do not see how a good society can come about.
~ Jiddu Krishnamurti, 1895-1986 ~
Growth
in July, a triumph getting it to survive
after many failed attempts.
daughter of Tomas Luis and Cindy Chin,
daughter of Colleen Lee Foote and Ric Chin,
my sister Gwen's son.
a few days before Christmas.
People, look: if we are going to find solutions to global problems — from global terrorism to ecological suicide to a world that might find peace to a cure for global warming — then we need human beings who are at a global, worldcentric level of consciousness, yes? Yes, obviously — worldcentric problems demand worldcentric awareness... only people at the worldcentric level of development can actually see the global or worldcentric problem, and therefore they are the only ones that will be moved from within to do something about it.
~ Ken Wilber ~
Connections & Community
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After 20 years in England, good friend Michael Cooke, formerly at the Institute of Jamaica, bought property and moved to Macinhata do Vouga in north central Portugal. He came to visit and subsequently sent me a tin of ackee. Made it into ackee and tofish (pre-frozen tofu, torn into strips and seasoned with a splash of rice vinegar, light soy sauce and finely chopped seaweed) with mushrooms and broccoli. Life is short and we never have enough time for gladdening the hearts of those who travel the way with us. O, be swift to love! Make haste to be kind. Spent a memorable and memory-inducing afternoon with Connie Fischer nee Limonius, visiting Portugal from Germany with her husband Thomas. Connie and i grew up in Brown's Town where i was best friends with her brother Derrick and close to her big sister Judy. Her dad had a drug store, Medical Hall, opposite my family's supermarket on Main Street at Kerr. We had not seen each other for at least 50 years, perhaps at Judy's wedding in New York. Amazing that we could reconnect so warmly after the intervening distance of time and place. We are social in many ways and for many reasons: because we desire company, because we depend on one another for survival, because so much that we care about is collectively created. Part of my social network locally has been augmented by two of the global Chinese diaspora, Desiree Kong and Yoon Chin Lai, both from Malaysia but arriving by divergent paths to Lisbon. Desiree and her then boyfriend, Justice, also part of my social circle, acquired property nearby and are developing it. Yoon is a former diplomatic wife and restaurant owner. Happy to report that family and friends in Jamaica are safe and suffered no damage from hurricane Melissa. Last i heard, niece Suzanne Lee Browne in Montego Bay still had no power but otherwise fine. Every crisis is an opportunity. Western Jamaica has to rebuild, not just build back better, but smarter, more sustainably. Attention must be paid, not only to storm-strong structures, but to siting, drainage, water-retention swales, rain gardens, greenhouses and vertical farming, alternative energy systems. Churches which received the most damage should be rebuilt, restoring the historic facades and outer shell but completely revamped inside as multi-functional community spaces available for use more than one day per week. |